The next Dragon Age: Origins Awakening NPC revealed by BioWare is Velanna, an angry Dalish elf. She appears to dislike clothing and has the power to animate trees. Along with Anders, this makes two Awakening NPCs that focus on magic. I’m looking forward to learning more about this angry chick. I’m also pretty sure a bunch of you are wondering, “Yeah, but can I bang her?”
@Nightshade386 I thought the balance was pretty good. More mages and rogues would have been nice, but considering the way most people play (bash the crap out of everything), there were plenty of ways to mix and match.
I thought the balance was best if you were a mage. at any rate I really enjoyed the companions from the original so I'm looking forward to meeting more.
@Shockwave562 I preferred having two rogues: Lelianna and me. I used my mage for healing and being cheap with area-of-effect spells before engaging enemies.
@Ray: If you play as a Warrior there are only two possible Rogues and only 2 possible Mages. By comparison there are more Warriors than Rogues and Mages combined. I prefer to use either two mages a rogue and a warrior, or two rogues, a mage and a warrior in my party at all times. My off tank is ALWAYS a rogue. If one of them dies or leaves the party, that leaves you hanging.
@Nightshade386 Yes, I know that. Most gamers prefer bashing, which is why the game is warrior heavy. Controlling mages and rogues with precision is much better on a PC, which a lot of old Baldur's Gate fans preferred playing on.
@Ray: I prefer to play as the Rogue, either as the off tank or as the ranged attacker.
All I'm saying is it would have been nice to have a little more variety in the characters. Maybe 3 mages & 3 rogues. I had to finish one of my 4 playthroughs without a mage at all because I was working towards certain achievements. No fun.
@Nightshade386 What achievements are you referring to?
Also, from a character perspective, who would you cut? There are so many great dialogue bits that I'd find it hard to cut anyone aside from War Dog…and even he's charming.
Spoilers obviously.
Just the way it broke down i had to get the Lv 20 Warrior, Purge the Mages Tower and one of the 3 endings where someone dies and Morrigan leaves the party all in one playthrough.
I'd cut Sten in a heartbeat. Replace him with either a mage or a rogue and I'd probably be happy.
sten was pretty boring, I didn't have the skill to get him on my first play but I didn't miss him once I got him, I never took war dog with me either.
Dog's funny in cutscenes, but I rarely used him in combat. That being said, I never used Sten and talking to him was like talking to a wall….even when he "opens up."
@Nightshade386 Sten's interaction with Shale is pretty excellent. Dog is also fantastic for taking out opposing mages.
@Ray: Allistair is also excellent for taking out mages, as well as anyone else you teach to be a Templar.
I never had any reason to put those two together because I never used 2 Warriors in the party at once, except for at the end of that one playthrough when I had no mages, and thus no choice in the matter.
Gimme more mages & rogues. Too many warriors in the original game. Need more variety.